Alternatives to Apple TV for iTunes extras

[BC1973]

Hi all. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of what I would think to be 'standard' features on my Apple TV2 I've resigned myself to the fact that I will always have to have my iMac on but I can't get my head around the AppleTV2s inability to play iTunes extras. They are sold bundled with the films in iTunes after all.

My question is this, if I were to ditch my AppleTV in favour of something more flexible, what would be a good alternative? Do other streaming boxes allow you to play the bonus content from ripped DVDs?

 

[JoeShades]

i think wdtv live or roku using plex would be an alternative for you

 

[BC1973]

i think wdtv live or roku using plex would be an alternative for you

I tried the WDT Live but unfortunately it doesn't work properly with Lion. Maybe I'll look in to a ROKU.

 

[dgalvan123]

Hi all. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of what I would think to be 'standard' features on my Apple TV2 I've resigned myself to the fact that I will always have to have my iMac on but I can't get my head around the AppleTV2s inability to play iTunes extras. They are sold bundled with the films in iTunes after all.

My question is this, if I were to ditch my AppleTV in favour of something more flexible, what would be a good alternative? Do other streaming boxes allow you to play the bonus content from ripped DVDs?

If you jailbreak your ATV2 using FireCore's SeasonPass software, you can install either PLEX, XBMC, or FireCore's ATV Flash (Black) software. Plex and XBMC are free, ATV Flash is $30. Each of these has ways that you can play an archived DVD (that is, the VIDEO_TS folder) from your computer hard drive on your ATV2. This will mean you get the movie's main DVD menu with all the extras on your TV screen, since all that stuff is contained in the VIDEO_TS folder.

Jailbreaking is non-trivial, but it's free and if you spend an evening you'll probably be able to get it set up exactly how you want.

As far as I know Roku doesn't offer this kind of functionality.

Another workaround is to play the DVD in your mac and use a program like AirParrot to mirror your mac's screen to your Apple TV.

 

[tbayrgs]

If you jailbreak your ATV2 using FireCore's SeasonPass software, you can install either PLEX, XBMC, or FireCore's ATV Flash (Black) software. Plex and XBMC are free, ATV Flash is $30. Each of these has ways that you can play an archived DVD (that is, the VIDEO_TS folder) from your computer hard drive on your ATV2. This will mean you get the movie's main DVD menu with all the extras on your TV screen, since all that stuff is contained in the VIDEO_TS folder.

Jailbreaking is non-trivial, but it's free and if you spend an evening you'll probably be able to get it set up exactly how you want.

As far as I know Roku doesn't offer this kind of functionality.

Another workaround is to play the DVD in your mac and use a program like AirParrot to mirror your mac's screen to your Apple TV.

I think the OP is talking about the Extra items often included with iTunes purchased movies, not the extra items found on a DVD.

Regardless, I don't think any of the mentioned options will work due to the DRM on iTunes purchased content. I have to admit I wasn't aware the iTunes Extras couldn't be streamed to an Apple TV. I only have one iTunes bought movie with Extras and haven't tried watching it since we had a first gen Apple TV, to which the iTunes Extras could be synced and viewed.

 

[Irishman]

I wonder if Mountain Lion's Airplay mirroring would allow you to do what u want.

And you're only out $20!